1 Lent 2011

Sermon - March 13, 2011     

The Rev. John Baldwin

This morning is the 1st Sunday in the 40 day season of Lent. The word “Lent” comes to us from an Anglo-Saxon word meaning “Spring” and has been observed for centuries as a period of refreshment for the soul. It’s been a time for “giving up” or “taking on”....6 weeks of commitment and discipline, bringing our spiritual life to the center of our awareness & concern.

It should be no surprise that our Gospel this morning is the story of Jesus’ Temptation in the Wilderness, the 40 days Jesus spent in solitude following his Baptism in the Jordan River. It comes immediately before the beginning of his public ministry of preaching, teaching and healing.

During these 40 days, Jesus spent much of his time in prayer and meditation about his vocation. What kind of ministry was he being called to by his heavenly Father? Matthew and Luke portray this time of solitude as a period of testing and temptation. There were many paths Jesus could take, some much more alluring than others. He could be a great miracle-worker, dazzling the crowds with his ability to do incredible things. Who had ever seen a man turn stones into bread? Even Houdini couldn’t do that!!! Or, Jesus could pick the moment of greatest media exposure, when the Temple courtyard was crowded with people, and jump off the top of the Temple. Finally, Jesus knew the longing of the people to rid themselves of Roman rule. They were thirsty for the powerful and charismatic leadership he might provide. Tempting as all of these possibilities might have seemed, Jesus rejected them all, and chose instead the role of a suffering servant...one who would proclaim good news to the poor, liberty to captives, recovery of sight to the blind and freedom for the oppressed.

The Preface for the Lent, said by the celebrant at the altar in the midst of the Eucharist, sums up this period of testing in these words: “Through Jesus Christ our Lord, who was tempted in every way as we are, yet did not sin.”

Temptation is a human reality that challenges us every day of our lives.... urging us to turn from honesty to untruthfulness, often very subtlety. Let me give some examples. Some years ago we purchased a game called Scruples. It contains a number of cards on which are printed situations that call for moral and ethical decisions. Players are asked to respond “Yes”, “No” or “Depends” as to the course of action one would take. See if you recognize yourself in any of these situations of Temptation.

1) The price tag on a sweater you are buying is $65, but the salesperson by mistake rings up $35. Do you draw their attention to their mistake?

2) In a parking lot you accidentally dent someone’s car, but no one’s around. Do you leave a note taking responsibility?

3) You are filling out your income tax form. Do you declare every dollar you are supposed to?

4) Cleaning up the house, you find your teenage daughter’s diary. Do you glance inside?

It’s in those areas where we respond “Depends” that the greatest temptation lies....”Depends on whether I can get away with it.”...”depends on how I feel at the time”...or “depends on whether my lie is a big one or a small one.”

When I was a little boy, about 8 years old, my school bus driver dropped me off on a corner next to Woolworth’s in downtown New Bedford, MA. I would often go inside to get warm while waiting for a connecting bus to my home. In one section of the store was a stamp department, which I enjoyed visiting, being an avid stamp collector. At the counter there were some small orange bags with draw strings full of stamps from around the world. One day it occurred to me that if I put my finger into the hole at the top of the bag, I could slip out a few stamps and stick them in my pockets. An inner voice encouraged me to do so: “No one will see you...it’s only a few stamps ...no one’s going to be hurt by it.” And I succumbed to the temptation...not just once, I’m sorry to say, but several times.

But then one day, my mother discovered some of those stamps in a pants pocket as she was preparing to do the laundry. Suspecting something, she confronted me with the evidence. When I confessed, she marched me down to the Manager of Woolworth’s. In shame and humility, I confessed my transgressions and asked his pardon. It was a sequence of events I’ll never forget. It cured me of the urge to shoplift, but it was by no means the end of temptation in my life. What is comforting in the story of Jesus’ Temptation is that he was tempted in every way that we are. What is challenging is that, in spite of the temptations, Jesus did not Sin.

There is hardly a better book, I believe, on the subtleties and seductiveness of temptation than the Screwtape Letters written in 1941 by C.S. Lewis, one of the last century’s greatest Christian writers. He was exceptional in being able to take a complex argument, such as Free Will or Temptation, break it down to its basic principals and then give it the force of a sledge hammer.      

  

The idea in the Screwtape Letters is to set forth the psychology of temptation from the other point of view, the Tempter’s. The book is a series of letters from Screwtape, a master tempter in the employ of his Satanic Majesty, to Wormwood, a novice tempter. The Letters are full of suggestions on how to successfully corrupt the souls of human beings. In Screwtape’s advice, we become aware of how often and how easily we are tempted to be unloving, selfish and untrue to the heart and mind of Jesus Christ.

Although the Letters are written in a semi-humorous way, Lewis takes the power of evil to corrupt very seriously. In Letter 26, for example, Screwtape describes “the Generous Conflict Game” as a way of tempting families to indulge in selfishness and petty quarrels. The scenario runs like this:

“Something quite trivial like having tea in the garden is proposed. One family member makes it quite clear he’d rather not do that, but is of course prepared to do so out of “unselfishness.” The others thereupon withdraw their proposal, seemingly because of their own “unselfishness”, but really because they don’t want to feel guilty. But the first person is not about to be upstaged. He insists on doing what the others want. They insist on doing what he wants. Passions are roused. Soon someone is saying, “very well, then, I won’t have any tea at all,” and a real quarrel ensues with bitter resentment on all sides. Each side is quite alive to the cheap quality of the other’s “unselfishness” and of the false position into which he (or she) is trying to force them, but each manages to feel blameless and ill-used with no more dishonesty than comes natural to the human.”

Where Screwtape is able to press his advantage is in those areas where we are tempted to be dishonest...to be false and deceptive in our dealings with others; to be inwardly hypocritical; to be untrue to the mind of Christ. The season of Lent, with its beckoning to a 6-week journey of self-examination and repentance, is a time to journey into the wilderness of temptation, to face openly and honestly those things that tempt us to stumble, and to turn towards the whole and abundant life our Lord desires for us.

In closing, let me repeat this morning’s Collect, “Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan. Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations; and as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find you mighty to save, through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord.” Amen.

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Lectionary: Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7, Romans 5:12-19, Psalm 32, Matthew 4:1-11
Proper Preface for Lent can be found: http://www.bcponline.org/HE/pphe2.htm
Lent:
Through Jesus Christ our Lord; who was tempted in every way as we are, yot did not sin. By his grace we are able to triumph over every evil, and to live no longer for ourselves alone, but for him who died for us and rose again.